Glimpse on Michael Jackson, Emma Stone and many others

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Remembering Michael; Jackson's children mark singer's 60th birthday

Nine years after the death of the "King of Pop," Michael Jackson's children and other family members came together to launch an auction, accept a posthumous award and remember the singer on what would have been his 60th birthday. Children Paris and Prince Jackson, brothers Tito and Jackie and R&B singer Usher joined some 1,500 guests in Las Vegas on Wednesday for a performance of the Cirque du Soleil show "One," based on music by the "Thriller" singer.

Netflix's queen enjoyed sex scenes with Emma Stone in Venice movie

Olivia Colman, soon to seen as Queen Elizabeth in the Netflix series "The Crown", said she had a blast playing another English monarch, not least because of sex scenes with "La La Land" star Emma Stone. The 44-year-old British actress plays 18th century Queen Anne in "The Favourite", which was due to be premiered at the Venice Film Festival later on Thursday.

'First Man' shows Armstrong's view after the Moon landing, sitting in 'tin can'

Everyone knows what Neil Armstrong said as he stepped onto the Moon, and when Ryan Gosling delivers the line in "First Man", which opened the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, it sounds like dialogue as familiar as "To be or not to be". But Oscar-winning "La La Land" director Damien Chazelle takes the viewer deeper than that epic moment when Armstrong took "one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," to show what it must have felt like to leave the world behind, with a high chance of never coming back.

Woody Allen's latest film release in doubt

The release of Woody Allen's latest film was cast into doubt on Thursday after distributor Amazon Studios said it had not decided on a release date. The 82-year-old Oscar-winning director of comedies like "Annie Hall" and "Midnight in Paris" has traditionally released a new movie every year.

'Two-queens' Colman brings grief, comedy to Venice in 'The Favourite'

"It is fun to be queen sometimes," exclaims Olivia Colman in "The Favourite", in which she plays a physically and emotionally crippled monarch who swings from childlike glee to childish impetuousness in the space of a sentence. The British actress, soon to be seen as Elizabeth II in the Netflix series "The Crown", plays Britain's 18th-century Queen Anne as a heartbroken widow whose pet rabbits that have the run of her palatial bedchamber are surrogates for the 17 children she has lost during or soon after pregnancy.

French actor Depardieu faces rape investigation, denies wrongdoing

Gerard Depardieu is being investigated by the Paris prosecutor over accusations of rape and sexual assault, a judicial source said - though the prominent French actor denies any wrongdoing, according to his lawyer. One of France's most prolific actors, Depardieu, 69, has been in around 170 movies through his career and gained international recognition in 1990 with his starring role in the English language comedy "Green Card".

Cuaron wants you to see 'Roma' on the big screen, but only Netflix would fund it

Alfonso Cuaron's new film, a black-and-white family drama with no stars, is a world away literally and metaphorically from his last one, "Gravity", the Sandra Bullock/George Clooney effects-heavy space extravaganza. But the Oscar-winning director says he wants both to be experienced on the big screen, even if he made "Roma", which premiered in Venice on Thursday, for streaming service Netflix.

Sanctioned Russian singer Kobzon, dubbed Russia's Sinatra, dies aged 80

Veteran Russian singer and pro-Kremlin politician Iosif Kobzon, who was under European Union sanctions for supporting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, died on Thursday. He was 80. The singer, famed for his baritone performances of patriotic and military songs and often labeled Russia's answer to Frank Sinatra, had been undergoing treatment for cancer.

Prince Harry and Meghan attend hit musical Hamilton in London

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan attended a performance of the hit musical Hamilton on Wednesday to raise money for a charity which works with children affected by HIV in southern Africa. At the end of the show, Harry and the musical's creator Lin-Manuel Miranda planned to address the audience, said a statement from Harry's Kensington Palace residence.

Idris Elba gets behind the camera for crime drama 'Yardie'

British actor Idris Elba goes behind the camera for his directorial debut "Yardie", a crime drama he says will offer young people a "perspective" on violence at a time when London is suffering from a surge in knife crime. Based on the novel by Victor Headley, the film follows the story of D, a young Jamaican who arrives in London in the 1980s and comes across the man who, a decade earlier, killed his brother in Jamaica. Rather than abandon his life of crime, he soon sets out on a bloody quest for justice.